Rise of the Phoenix
by doctor chocolate thunder
Summary: We all thought that the Cylons were gone. De'anna and the human forms cylons remain and have many stories to tell. This story is heavily Battle Star Galactica with some very definite Stargate Atlantis and other things mixed in. Look for a lot of action and a lot of reasons to rethink how you imagine the cylons and their evil tendencies. continuation of the rare friends story.


Quiet waters

The day began quietly. Observing the light of the stars in its many hues as it spread out in the black expanse of space outside the large viewing window, Frank couldn't help but think about all of the things that had changed in the last six months. Frank took another sip of his coffee and checked his watch; he had another fifteen minutes before he had to go to work. He still couldn't quite believe the Cylon war was finally over. For all thirty-four years of his life, he had only ever known war. Sure, he knew he was not a fighter, but as a member of the Colonial military and an engineer he had seen a lot as a function of his job. Frank looked back out the window at the stars and the large Battlestar that sat docked in the space station where he was at the moment. It was not the pretty new Battlestar _Galactica_, but one of the old warhorses renamed and relegated out for extra duty. Frank was very thankful that the _Galactica_ was here. After all, even though the Cylon war was over, being here on the armistice station still felt much too close to the Cylons for his liking. Frank was surprised that his assignment had taken such a short time. He only had another week here, and then the armistice station would take its place as one of the foremost museums of the Cylon Wars and all of the death that they brought. Frank sat for a few more moments, drinking his coffee and watching the stars, when one of his subordinates walked up behind him and quietly sat down next to him on the bench facing the viewing window.

"There is a delegation of Tauri who want to come visit the station. Admiral Adama wanted to bring them here next week for the opening," his subordinate informed him, not expecting an answer right away.

"How is that a concern for us?" Frank asked as he pondered the possible answers, watching the people working on the station in their EVA suits. He noticed one of the docking sleeves on the far side of the station begin to extend out as though it were accepting a ship.

"Sir, the Tauri ship will need a specific kind of docking collar. The admiral sent us the specifications for the new collar…." The technician stopped mid-sentence as he watched alongside Frank.

Frank had become somewhat curious about the docking sleeve. For the life of him, Frank couldn't think of who would be working on one of the Cylon docks. They had gone through all of the Cylon side of the station only last week. It was at that point that Frank saw a purple ship shimmer into existence. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. What scared him most of all, though, was that the ship had docked with a Cylon standard docking sleeve. Frank and his counterpart both quickly got up and all but ran to the meeting room at the center of the station. Frank knew the _Galactica_ would already have teams of marines in motion, so he made his way to the communications room at the back of the meeting hall where the ambassador still sat. Frank sent messages to the _Galactica_ and the Colonies. While calling the _Galactica,_ Frank was even more surprised to see the doors on the far side of the hall slide open and five people walk through them. Frank was very glad for the room having a window facing the Cylon side of the hall, because he would not have believed what he saw next. The ambassador sat up straight, startled that the door across from him he seemed to visibly shake as the head of the unwelcome group entered the room and addressed him.

"I am De'anna, and I represent what is left of the Cylon Empire." She took one of the chairs at the conference table.

"Holy Frak!" Frank shouted at the window between him and the meeting room as he heard the woman speak.

"This is _Galactica_ Actual; what is going on?" Frank heard the voice coming from the radio. "We have three teams about to converge on the unknown ship that just docked here." Frank cut him off.

"Don't do that. Get Adama here right away. I repeat: Adama needs to be here _now_." Frank all but shouted the order at the radio operator on the _Galactica_. Frank was surprised to hear the _Galactica_ answer back so quickly.

"This is Adama; why do you need me? Have you already made contact with the intruders?" The admiral asked. Frank watched the ambassador shake hands with the Cylon and they both sat down.

"The Cylons are back." At those words, Frank's blood froze.

"I'll be right there," Adama said, deep concern clear in his voice. Frank knew it would probably be ten minutes before he arrived. His marines, though, arrived quickly. They were smart enough not to enter the meeting hall, as they were unsure of the new Centurions that might be in the room. The new Cylons still had the same single red eye that shifted from one side to the other, but their bodies looked very different. While Frank and the marine leaders watched from the window, the rest of the marines waited in the hall, guns ready. All they needed were a few words and they would storm the room.

"Sir, what do you want us to do?" Frank asked when Admiral Adama finally entered the communications room.

"Tell me exactly what has happened," Adama ordered, his voice cold as stone.

"We saw the docking sleeve come out and didn't understand why until their ship de-cloaked. Then we ran here and watched that woman come into the room with her Centurions - they shook hands with the ambassador and announced themselves as the last of the Cylon Empire," Frank explained.

"What do you mean by 'they'? Did the Centurions shake hands?"

"No sir. The Centurion at the front of the room did speak to the others, but they did not shake any hands," Frank said, clarifying his previous statement. He thought for a second how weird these new Centurions were. When they spoke, they seemed to speak without any computer inflection, almost perfect English with a hint emotion. He did not know what to make of it.

"Thank you Frank. Stay and monitor from here. Colonel Tigh and I will go in and join the ambassador. He is not actually equipped for this." At that, Adama left the communications room and entered the hall where his XO Saul Tigh and the marines were conversing.

"Sir, we can take the room. Just give the word," Tigh pronounced. Adama's eyes widened at his words.

"Under no circumstances will we do that. No one is to enter that room without my express consent. Do you understand me?!" Adama ordered with an amazing amount of control as he looked at each of his marine commanders. "The Colonel and I will enter the room and speak with the Cylon. Frank, make sure you record every word." Adama turned to Frank, who sat in the room not ten feet away with the door open.

"Already recording, Sir," Frank called. Adama motioned for Saul to surrender his weapon to a marine and follow him through the door. With a sigh, Adama walked through the door into a brave new world.

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_Tria_: Cylon Ship approaching the Armistice Station (Forty-Five Minutes Previous)

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"Ma'am, we have just exited hyperspace and are approaching the station. We will be alongside in fifteen minutes," the Centurion sitting at the helm position informed De'anna, who sat in her command chair on the bridge.

"Tell the trailing ships to cloak and remain cloaked until I give the word. If this goes well, we will not need them here." The Centurions all nodded and relayed the appropriate commands. This was the newest ship in the fleet, and the leader of the Genii was in command. This would be a big day, De'anna thought to herself as she watched the armistice station get larger on the front view screen. She couldn't help but feel a little like she had done this before; after all, she had done this with the Tauri once already.

-_Tria_: Six Months Ago-

"Ma'am, we are detecting two ships leaving the planet's orbit," the ops officer announced. They had been sitting here in the asteroid belt for a little over a week. Initially, their mission was only to observe and collect information. After the first three days of monitoring, though, they had realized that something important was going on. From the transmissions they were receiving it seemed like some sort of treaty was in the final stages, and the official signing would take place on New Lantea. At that point, De'anna knew that she had to find a way to involve the Genii. They had worked so hard for the last several years to stay unknown, but with the less-than-desirable parts of the Cylons gone and her people now fully integrated into Genii society, the time seemed right to step back into the light.

"Commander, de-cloak the ship," De'anna directed. She watched two ships leaving orbit of the one habitable planet in the system. "Don't let the other ships de-cloak yet. I don't want to provoke a violent response. We need them to see just us," De'anna added very quickly. Her XO Sora was sometimes a little more aggressive than she needed.

"Communicating now," Sora said as she transmitted the information.

"Pull us back into the asteroid belt another three kilometers," De'anna commanded, watching both of the ships coming faster towards her position. She was sure they had seen her. One of the two ships had cloaked, but still moved in their direction.

"Ma'am, Tauri ship de-cloaking. She is not near us, though they have detected Carrice's ship," Sora said, sounding concerned. She understood how delicate and yet how aggressive Carrice could be at times.

"Open a channel to her ship. We need to make sure she's playing our part," De'anna said, recognizing the potential problem.

"Ma'am, they are not responding. They are sending out a virus," Sora said. De'anna turned red with anger. Everyone on the bridge knew that if Carrice handled this the wrong way, they could all end up dead. Because of that they all watched with growing horror as the Tauri ship hailed them and issued their challenge while Carrice powered weapons and then fired on the Tauri ship. This was not good.

"We have to step into this; we can't let her doom us all," Sora said, a bit frantic, as her captain sat dumbfounded in her command chair.

"No, if we step in now we'll get everyone killed. We need to wait and watch," De'anna decided as she watched the Tauri ship fire its rail guns and then fire two of its plasma beams. She didn't like to see how quickly Carrice's shields disappeared, but was even more surprised when Carrice's ship and the two ships near her blinked out of existence.

"Ma'am, all three ships in their vicinity have jumped. I am sure they…. Hold on. A second ship just de-cloaked and is pursuing," the Centurion at ops noted as he observed the panels in front of him. "It's the _Ajax,_ Ma'am." De'anna smiled, remembering her operative that had been placed aboard that ship - not the first, but definitely the best of her people. De'anna was also happy to know now that irradiating their nanites had done the trick.

"We need to wait. Tell the other eleven ships in the shield that they are to cloak now and meet in orbit of New Lantea on my signal. We need to catch General O'Neill so that we can apologize and return his people to him. That should help us bridge the gap Carrice has just created," De'anna informed her XO as she got up from her chair to go and find their friends the Vanir. It was time for a reunion, whether they wanted it or not.

-Six Hours Later: _Tria_, Orbiting New Lantea-

"Ma'am all ships are now in formation awaiting your orders," Sora called out as she watched the _Enterprise_ through the view screen. She was a beautiful ship, and General Oniell had just beamed aboard. Sora thought about how much help their infiltrators had been. Without them, this mission would have been a total failure.

"The _Enterprise_ should get underway momentarily, they won't go into hyperspace next to the planet so if we can corral them as they leave orbit we should be able to get their attention. Let everyone know they are not to raise their shields or power their weapons until someone is fired upon and under no circumstances are they to fire on any Tauri ship," De'anna ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am. The _Enterprise_ is breaking orbit."

"All ships de-cloak."

It was quite a scene as the _Enterprise_ broke orbit to find itself surrounded by the twelve remaining Genii ships. Her response was immediate and shields went up and weapons came online.

"Open a channel."

"Channel open, Ma'am."

"_Enterprise,_ this is De'anna, leader of the Genii and captain of the _Tria_. I want to apologize for my colleague's actions. She was not acting under my authority and she will be reprimanded severely." She waited a breath to see General O'Neill's response.

"Why have your ships challenged me here? You must know you cannot hope to survive an encounter with us so close to the planet," he demanded, with a little bit of anger and annoyance evident in his voice.

"First, I would like to open amicable relations with your people and all of those in the Pegasus Galaxy. Second, I would like to return some friends of yours." With that, De'anna motioned to Sora, and the three Vanir who had been their guests for the past several years walked into the view of a very surprised General O'Neill and Thor.

"Thor, it is good to see you again," Freya greeted as he came onto the bridge and saw his old friend for the first time in over a thousand years.

"General O'Neill, I am ready to transport these three Vanir to your ships so they can rejoin their long lost brothers. As a gesture of good faith, I would also like to come aboard so we can talk and discuss a new relationship with our two peoples," De'anna said, hoping she had struck the right cord. The screen blanked out after a few seconds and she could only guess what General O'Neill was thinking, but either way she would know soon.

After a good minute or two the view screen sprang back to life and General O'Neill spoke quickly.

"I am willing to have you aboard, but I have to leave orbit in the next few minutes on my way to Ida. If you are willing, I can take you aboard and we can discuss whatever you want over the next few days. I will not be coming back to New Lantea for some time, though so I will have to send you back via Gate."

"I'm willing to do that. Please give me five minutes to gather my things and have my people ready. I will be bringing a three-person delegation, if that is acceptable."

"Of course. And Freya and his people, too." Then the screen went blank again and everyone dropped their shields. Within fifteen minutes, De'anna, Sora, and two Centurions were aboard the _Enterprise_ on their way to the Ida Galaxy while the other eleven Genii ships returned to their home world while the _Tria_ made a quiet landing on the planet below. Sora and De'anna had a very interesting few weeks in store for them.

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_Tria_: Cylon Ship approaching the Armistice Station (Forty-Five Minutes Previous)

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De'anna was very thankful that the Tauri had been so willing to see how both of her peoples had changed. As she had thought back to her time on the _Enterprise,_ she thought about how many times things could have gone badly. She hoped that the Colonials could be as willing to listen. She doubted it, but she had to try.

"Ma'am, we are approaching the station."

"Begin docking procedures" De'anna commanded as she watched the behemoth fill the view screen in front of her. After several minutes she felt the ship quiver slightly as she came to rest against the armistice station. "De-cloak the ship and prepare boarding parties. If this goes badly, I don't want to be stuck inside that station. Have the other ships surround the _Galactica_ discretely. No shields or weapons powered up unless I give the order." De'anna got up from her chair and motioned for Sora to follow her, along with a team of Centurions that was waiting outside the bridge entrance. After several minutes of walking the team finally made it to the airlock. Since the Cylons had started to use these new ship designs, they had little need for airlocks and docking stations due to their use of transporting technology. Still, though, it felt good to step from her ship onto the armistice station. This was the first time that a Cylon had ever set foot on the station. While the treaty specifically meant for the station to be occupied by both sides at all times, the Cylons simply desired no contact. After the humiliation of the losses of the first war there was no point in being here. They really hadn't even helped to design the station. Fortunately, though, they had been sent schematics of the station shortly after the Colonials finished building it. They would prove vital now as one of the Centurions accessed those memories and led them down the hall towards the main meeting room.

The room itself was fairly simple. It was a very unremarkable rectangle with a plain gray table in the middle. Each end of the room had a viewing and surveillance office set in the wall to the side of the entranceway. Other than the table and four chairs (two on each side) the room had nothing in it. Stopping at the door that led into the meeting room, De'anna turned and looked directly at her lead Centurion. It was easy to tell that he was the leader, as he had a series of orange chevrons on his right arm.

"Sergeant Major, I want two people in the surveillance room and a team in this hall. In addition, I want a team of Centurions at each choke point along our path back to the ship. If something goes wrong I want you to extract us as quickly as possible," De'anna directed and waited for the Centurion to answer.

"Yes, Ma'am. I will accompany you and Sora into the room along with two privates." He issued his orders as Sora and De'anna turned back around and waited for the Sergeant Major to give his ready sign. Once that was done and the Centurions started moving into place, De'anna took a deep breath and muttered to herself, "Here we go." She pushed the door open and walked confidently into the room with her team in tow. It was clear to see the ambassador sitting at the table was startled to see someone come through the door, and then he quickly became confused as to why anyone would barge in like that. His countenance quickly changed with the realization that there were three Cylon Centurions along with the two women who had entered the room. He was a tall, thin man of fair complexion wearing a fairly average suit. Clearly he was not ever expected to have to do anything other than sit and read magazines while the world moved around him.

Reaching out her hand, De'anna walked all the way to the front of the table and proffered a handshake to the man still sitting at the table in shock and obvious terror. He quickly found himself and stood up to reach for the hand she held out to him.

"I am Galen Tyrese, ambassador to the armistice station," he said, with a great force of will, still working through his palpable fear.

"I am De'anna DeBeers, representative of the remnant of the Cylons and leader of the Genii people. Thank you for greeting me." At that she released his hand, which he quickly retracted as though injured. "I am here to renew our relationship and request a full peace treaty," she continued as they both sat down. He still did not say much, still reeling from the unexpected encounter.

"We thought you were all dead. The Tauri destroyed your home world and all of your fleets," he said very quietly, not sure of himself and imagining that he could be dead at any moment.

"That's true; our home world was destroyed, and most of the Cylon fleets were destroyed, but not all of our fleets." She sounded a touch angry. It was important that they thought she was angry about the destruction for now, even though she was grateful for it. She noticed that he had stopped looking at her for a moment, obviously listening to some sort of ear piece.

"Admiral Adama is here on station; we were in the process of converting this station into a museum and he was here to see it finished." He paused to take a breath.

"I am aware of all this." With that statement, she again threw him into a tailspin with the thoughts of how she could know that and what else she might know.

"He will be in here in a minute. I will be his second," he said, gesturing towards Sora and the Centurions that had taken up stations on each side of their entrance door and the Centurion leader standing a few feet directly behind De'anna.

Two minutes later, De'anna was not surprised to see Admiral Adama enter the room from the Colonial side along with a small team of marines that took up opposite stations to the Centurions.

"I am Admiral Adama; I will represent the Thirteen Colonies of Kobol here today." He reached out his hand confidently so that De'anna could shake it, obviously not cowed in the least. De'anna smiled as she shook his hand and took a small letter out of her jacket pocket and placed it on the table.

"As I said earlier, I am De'anna DeBeers, representative of the remnant of the Cylons and leader of the Genii people. I am here to renew our relationship and request a full peace treaty." She paused.

"This much I already know. What's this?" He asked as he gestured at the paper on the table while they sat together at the table.

"That is an official letter from General O'Neill of the Tauri. He sends his best regards and asks that you listen to what I have to say, as we are in the preliminary stages of a formal treaty with both the Travelers and the Tauri." Adama leaned back, surprised, as if physically struck, and she waited while he picked up and read the letter.

"All right, you have my attention. Why should we listen to you instead of just tracking down and killing your people?" Adama inquired bluntly, always one to go straight at a problem.

"Admiral, that is a long story, and one I would like to tell you if you will take the time to listen." De'anna didn't really expect a positive response. He was so renowned among the Cylons as one to shoot first, even she didn't expect much from him.

Today, she was surprised to find that he simply sat back in his chair, looked directly into her eyes, and said, "Here, I have all the time in the world. I can't approve a treaty but I can definitely crush one in its infancy. Tell me why a treaty matters to us." At his words, both Sora and De'anna visibly relaxed.

"This story starts with my quasi-exile from the Cylon command more than fifteen years ago…." And with that, De'anna began to recount her story and that of the Cylons in a time of great change for her people. The chapters that follow are her story and the way she changed all that her people stood for. Not all of this story is my recounting; I am, after all, only one person, but for my part I will tell all that I can of what I experienced and what I know of the parts I did not witness. Because I am a being who largely cannot die, I find that often I have a more long-term view of things. I hope that will not hinder my retelling of this story. However, if it does, please be charitable.

Author's note:

This is the first chapter of my new story and I think it will be a good one. It is unlike anything I have seen anywhere else. As far as I know, no one has written any story from the perspective of the Cylons, to put skin on their skeleton as you might say. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.


End file.
